Thinking about flood insurance and wondering what it covers? You’re not alone.

It’s important to know what is and what isn’t covered by a flood insurance policy. Also, there are separate flood insurance policies for your building/structure and for your contents.

For example, if you’re a renter, you may only be interested in the contents policy.

You can buy one or both; each of these policies has its own deductible.

A Building Property/Structure policy covers your actual home (building property) up to $250,000. A Personal Property/Contents policy covers your personal property up to $100,000.

What’s covered for a building property / structure?

• The electrical and plumbing systems
• Furnaces, water heaters, heat pumps, and sump pumps
• Refrigerators, cooking stoves, and built-in appliances such as dishwashers
• Permanently installed carpeting over an unfinished floor
• Permanently installed paneling, wallboard, bookcases, and cabinets
• The damage must be directly caused by flood water
• Cabinets that were not damaged by flood water are not covered, even if they match cabinets that were damaged by flood water
• Foundation walls, anchorage systems, and staircases attached to the building
• There is an exclusion for “loss caused directly by earth movement even if the earth movement is caused by flood”
• A detached garage, used for limited storage or parking
• Up to 10%of the building coverage limit can be used, but will reduce the total amount of building coverage available
• Cisterns and the water in them
• Fuel tanks and the fuel in them, solar energy equipment, and well water tanks and pumps
• Window blinds

What’s covered for personal property / contents?

• Personal belongings such as clothing, furniture, and electronic equipment
• Curtains
• Portable and window air conditioners (easily moved or relocated)
• Portable microwave ovens and portable dishwashers
• Carpets not included in building coverage (carpet installed over wood floors, etc.)
• Clothes washers and dryers
• Certain valuable items such as original artwork and furs (up to $2,500)
• Food freezers and the food in them (but not refrigerators)

Commercial flood insurance is also available from the National Flood Insurance Program and provides up to $500,000 of coverage for your building and up to $500,000 for its contents. Be sure to talk to your licensed insurance agent, or ask more questions to the Fight the Flood program coordinators, about what is and isn’t covered by your policy.

Want to protect yourself? Register now to become a member of the Fight the Flood program and gain access to more information, tools to finance efforts to protect your property and get the help you need to fight the flood.